M11X r3, good purchase?

going back to the point, we can conclude that buying an i5/i7 M11x will certainly satisfy Benfclack's expectations, with a possible boost by adding a SSD drive for overall reactivity of the system.
common point between all the participants: all are satified customers in the end.

did I sum this up accurately?

PS: for a gaming performance feel, there are many threads posted when a new game is released, taking a look will certainly help to have a good idea of what this machine can or can't do.

 

Yes, SSDs are a luxury until you've had one - then they become a necessity. I'll never build or buy a computer without one now.

I have an old but powerful quad core Core 2 Duo desktop with 4gb of memory and a 1gb 4890 video card; a very good video card that's hard to beat today for less than 200$. It can of course run at higher framerates than the Alienware, and drive those framerates at a higher resolution. BUT.. it's not half as responsive. Textures pop in and out constantly, the whole computer chugs at half the speed. I can honestly tell the difference in system memory speed. The Alienware is "slower" at high resolutions, but the system itself is faster, more responsive.

Get an i7 for 100$ more is just fine. The thing with these ultra portable laptops is that you really need to squeeze every last drop out of them. If you look at Macbook Air 2011 reviews you see a very decent performance increase by going to an i7; and the Macbook Airs and m11x have essentially the same processor (though the i7 in the Air is clocked a bit faster).

 

Bad deal could have got the same spec laptop at 1074.99 CAD with free tactx mouse worth $50, like few days ago from alienware.

 

Ive got my gpu to use 9/10 of the 2gb of the 540m with 3ds max.... it is worth it when you factor the fps diff in games..... could be the difference between lag and no lag

 

Honestly, I just think you would see a large benefit to getting the M14x over the M11x. The 540M is fairly "meh", while the 555M has some kick to it. An OC'd 555M will be on-par with a 560M, for the most part.

 

The m14x is arguably somewhat a different market segment. There's no reason to get the m11x if you are indifferent to, or care little for, mobility.

 

lol. not that much of a difference. I got skyrim included anyway. Laptop was shipped last night, starting to wonder if I should of gotten the XPS 14z instead.. :S